Customer Reviews

My Lady Notorious

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Lady Chastity takes on the role of a highwayman and kidnaps a coach and its aristocratic occupant in order to rescue her widowed sister and baby nephew from their crazed father. But Cyn Malloren doesn't remain a captive for long. A soldier recovering from a life-threatening illness, Cyn impulsively offers to help the young "Charles" and his widowed sister escape their pursuers. When the handsome reward offered for their capture tightens the web around them, Cyn dons feminine apparel to throw off the scent. The scene where Cyn (dressed as a lady) avoids detection by engaging in a passionate liplock with Chastity (dressed as a man) is real jewel!

The sexual tension between Chastity and Cyn is explosive, even though Chastity doesn't know that Cyn is not fooled by her male apparel. Cyn falls deeper and deeper in love as he tries to ferret out the truth of Chastity's reputation and family secrets. Chastity knows that her unsavory reputation makes her unsuitable to become the wife of a Malloren, so she clings all the more closely to her bitter secrets.

Originally published in 1993, this book is the first of a series of five (so far) dealing with the Malloren family and its dictatorial head, Rothgar. Before reading the highly-acclaimed fifth book, "Devilish," I decided to acquire the first four and read them in order. (I do love books with recurring characters!) If the other four books turn out to be as engrossing as this one, I may not be able to get any sleep this week!

This 1st book in the Malloren Series by Jo Beverley includes gender bending, cross-dressing, seduction, and adventure. What a combination! Though the first quarter of the book is slow-moving if you are patient you will see it is only the beginning of a very multi-layered and enjoyable tale.

We are first introduced to Cyn Malloren as his carriage is hijacked by Lady Chastity Ware dressed a highwayman. Desperate to help her widowed sister and baby escape the man intent on taking her child from her, she resorts to thievery in order to aid her sister's plight.

However, Cyn is bored and wishing for adventure and is a willing victim. Immediately noting "Charlie" is not truly a man he is intrigued and willing to go along for the ride.

We are introduced several times to the head of the Malloren Family, Rothgar, a charismatic man who is both bold and one we find dipping in the snuff quite a bit! What might be a major flaw in the story is the very overshadowing of the hero Cyn by his more intriguing brother. There is no fault in the character build up of Lady Chastity who proves to be both passionate and a victim of her father's cruelty, however Cyn comes across as a much lighter version of his brother. Rothgar had a previous tryst (although fairly innocent) with Lady Chastity and there seems to actually be a rather deep connection between the two of them.

The much talked about LADY NOTORIOUS, the 1st book in Jo Beverley's Malloren Series, was not at all as I expected. Perhaps a book and series with such a reputation must perform immediate miracles or one is disappointed. Rest assured, this book picks-up
tempo quite swiftly mid-way and was indeed a joy to read. The sensual scenes becoming quite explicit, and due to the beginning being a rather slow and innocent tale, you can see that Ms. Beverley has merely played you into her talented hands. The story engulfs you in it's fun, depth, and layers.

The 2nd book in the Malloren Series, TEMPTING FORTUNE, tells the story of Lord Arcenbryght Malloren and Portia St. Claire.

Pick up this new edition of the first book in the Malloren series and you'll realize that the series is good from the very beginning.

Cyn Malloren is back from the wars, fed up with recuperating from a fever and so impatient to stay out of his family's solicitous hands that he plays along with a young highwayman rather than shoot him where he stands. He soon realizes that the young man is a woman but hides his realization for a good part of the book - finding it more enjoyable to tease her in various ways as the story goes on.

Lady Chastity Ware is desperate to help her widowed sister and baby travel to a safe haven and irritated to put up with the advice of the aristocratic prisoner, soon turned conspirator and mastermind. But his advice and presence is so helpful, when they are fleeing not only Verity's brother-in-law (the man who destroyed Chastity's reputation) but also their own father, who has incomprehensible plans for Verity and whose attempt to force Chastity into marriage is slowly revealed to be more and more horrific.

The sensual interaction between Cyn and Chastity starts of at a sparkling intensity, as Cyn plays games with the young woman pretending to be a man (though he wonders exactly how innocent Verity's sister might be) and breaks into raging fire when Cyn realizes that he is dealing with the Notorious Chastity Ware of disrepute and bawdy cartoon fame. The chapters covering their stay at a shocking party at Rood House practically melt off the page. But the story is not even half over.

Beyond the problem of the attraction between Cyn and Chastity and their ultimate fate as a couple, we still have Chastity's ruined reputation, Cyn's overbearing brother the Marquess of Rothgar and the opinion of his family, Verity's wedding, Chastity's one-time suitor and Chastity's father and brother all remaining to be dealt with. The book comes to a huge finale involving scenes played out in front of royalty in a display of mania, arrogance, and manipulation beyond description. A truly fitting opening to the series.

If you haven't read them, this is the place to start - and if you have, it's time to snatch up a replacement for your worn out copy and begin again.

This book started out very well, and certainly promised a lot of sizzle. Unfortunately it fails to deliver, for a number of very obvious reasons.

The beginning is excellent, and the attraction between Cyn and Chastity is clearly depicted, except that he never lets on that he knows she is a woman. she comes off as a real withc at times. All of the inevitable jokes and lustiness as a result of her disguise and his silence is a man directed to a boy, for all intents and purposes, and all of his jokes about boys' schools and sodomy get to be really unromantic after a while.

Then we have his attitude to her when he sleeps with her without admitting he knows who it is. He looks down his nose at her for being a tart without ever once asking her for the truth about what has been going on. Even his own brother, combing the orgy with various lewd women, is able to penetrate her disguise. But he judges her and is not very pleasant at all. Nowhere do I see any convincing falling in love, just sexual attraction.

The rivalry with his elder brother Rothgar over the past and Chastity really weighs down the book as well, and is unworthy of both men. Once Rothgar gets involved, he has such convoluted machinations going on that the vein of romance running throughout the book virtually disappears. Especially when Cyn declares he will never make love to her again until they are married. Ruin the sizzle and suspense or what!

The end is totally melodramatic, and despite all of the references to the history of England and Bonny Prince Charlie the reader is given very little context for all the events going on around which the escape of the two sisters has hinged all along. It is all a muddle of revelations and murder.

The girls' father comes off as little better than a stage villain, and it is hard to believe that Chastity is able to keep escaping so repeatedly, let alone being rescued by Cyn so often. The brother Fort swings back and forth like a pendulum between defending his family and abandoning them. The ending gets completely tedious.

Finally, the orgy. For deliberate shock value it is fine, rather silly, but none of the characters end up even remotely sympathetic as a result of all they do there.

Too much of the plot relies upon coincidence for this to be a really successful novel, and I would have loved some real romantic scenes between the two without his dress and her man's suit getting in the way so often. Chastity is buffeted by the winds of chance and fortune, and would be a goner without Cyn. Which makes her weak and pathetic, and a rather dull character. The shift in the novel from his point of view to mainly hers really ruins it. Cyn deserves better for sure.

A silly romp in an undefined 18th century England, with some hope for more in the series from the interesting Rothgar, and Cyn with a wife who really deserves him, one can only hope.

This first book is an auspicious start to the Malloren series!

Heroine Chastity Ware holds up a coach disguised as a highwayman to raise funds to help her sister escape her husband's family. Unfortunately for her, this is just the kind of adventure, the man in the coach, Cyn Malloren, is looking for. He coerces Chastity into taking him along on her & her sister's flight from their pursuers and, of course, all sorts of hilarious obstacles rise to meet them.

A wonderful and clever scene is when Cyn Malloren masquerades as a woman to outsmart the villains. Moreover, one of the great sources of humor in this story is that while Chastity continues to masquerade as a boy, Cyn deduced in their first dealings together that she is a girl. They continue for half the book with him knowing Chastity is a girl, unbeknownst to her, & playing tricks on her. This book is too clever not to get five stars!

This is the first Jo Beverley romance I have read; it was more erotic & darker than I expected. However, those elements only lend themselves to the strength and motivation of the storyline. Rothgar Malloren is a particularly well-conceived character as the intimidating, omnipresent figurehead of the Malloren family. He is one to watch in subsequent books on the Malloren family.

Check out Robin Schone and Susan Johnson for similar erotic and dark-toned romances.

This is actually the last book that I read in the Malloren series, and find that it did not disappoint me. I didn't like Chastity Ware at first but later on I came to realize that she is a very brave woman for going through what she did. I didn't like the parts where she confronted her father, not because it was badly-written, but because it was so well-written I was fearing so much for what was going to happen to Chastity half the time and the other half I was getting soo angry at the father and so frustrated that Chastity can do nothing about it but take it. It was really REALLY horrible what he did to her, I can't imagine anyone treating his daughter this way, and this was much more shocking than the whole orgy thing. This is what Jo Beverley's writing can do to you...it makes you totally put yourself in the character's shoes and emphasize, and I did a lot of that throughout the novel.

There are many moments of laughter and lightness, and I loved Cyn's outrageousness, and I can't imagine he can end up with anyone else other than Chastity, who can be just as outrageous as he is. The only problem (if you can call it that) is the overshadowing of Cyn by his big brother Rothgar and also a little by Chastity's big brother Fort. Maybe I was a little biased since I have read Fort and Rothgar's stories already, but even if I hadn't I would have had my attention diverted to these two. Rothgar is definitely intriguing, sometimes even a little supernatural, and you can just wait to get into his mind and see what makes him tick 'cause it's like he's always under control!!I loved the scenes with him and Chastity (that scene on the stairway!!) and I've even felt a twinge of regret that she is head-over-heels for Cyn already...because it seems that Rothgar and her have a good connection.

The ending was pulled off a little too well...everything just fell into place like that. I would have liked more complications/surprises. Of course, you have Rothgar to thank for that. Overall I give this book 5 stars because there are so many wonderful characters with vibrant personalities in here and it made me cry and laugh and not want to put the book down. Cyn wasn't my favorite hero, but him and Chastity made a perfect couple.

When I read Jo Beverley's "Something Wicked", I had no idea that it was part of a series. Eventually I came across the other four books in the Malloren Saga,and "My Lady Notorious" blew me away. Chastity Ware is not your average heroine. Unlike the type of female protagonist found in many romance novels, her problems don't lie in a missing fortune or a lost love. Her problems instead run deep into her soul and are replete with lies, scandal, betrayal, and outrageous abuse (both physical and mental) on the part of her family, who have cast her out completely after her refusal to marry the man they have chosen for her. Forced to dress like a man to ensure her survival, Chastity's strength and courage are amazing as she does all within her diminished power to help her widowed sister and Nephew. When Lord Cynric Malloren enters the picture, Chastity is determined that he will never learn that she is the "notorious Chasitiy Ware", rather than young "Charles". Cynric realizes her ruse from the begining but is determined to help this mysterious young woman. I don't wish to divulge the plot, but it is compelling and culminates in a finale that had me digging my nails into the book. Despite the fact that Ms. Beverley leaves nothing to the imagination in the books love scenes, the romance that developes between Cynric and Chastity is nohing short of touching. A phenomenal and worth while read!!

Lady Chastity takes on the role of a highwayman and kidnaps a coach and its aristocratic occupant in order to rescue her widowed sister and baby nephew from their crazed father. But Cyn Malloren doesn't remain a captive for long. A soldier recovering from a life-threatening illness, Cyn impulsively offers to help the young "Charles" and his widowed sister escape their pursuers. When the handsome reward offered for their capture tightens the web around them, Cyn dons feminine apparel to throw off the scent. The scene where Cyn (dressed as a lady) avoids detection by engaging in a passionate liplock with Chastity (dressed as a man) is real jewel!

The sexual tension between Chastity and Cyn is explosive, even though Chastity doesn't know that Cyn is not fooled by her male apparel. Cyn falls deeper and deeper in love as he tries to ferret out the truth of Chastity's reputation and family secrets. Chastity knows that her unsavory reputation makes her unsuitable to become the wife of a Malloren, so she clings all the more closely to her bitter secrets.

Although the book is full of erotic images to seduce the senses, I would definitely NOT place it in the Bertrice Small-Susan Johnson category, primarily because the heroine is virtuous and does not have multiple sex partners. Although the orgy scene is...well...very HOT, to say the least!

Originally published in 1993, this book is the first of a series of five (so far) dealing with the Malloren family and its dictatorial head, Rothgar. Before reading the highly-acclaimed fifth book, "Devilish," I decided to acquire the first four and read them in order. (I do love books with recurring characters!) If the other four books turn out to be as engrossing as this one, I may not be able to get any sleep this week!

Call me crazy, but the idea of the hero in women's clothing and makeup was a total turnoff. And the fact that he appeared to enjoy it so much only worsened it for me. Add that to the author describing him as femininely beautiful and I had a nasty picture in my head that I couldn't get rid off.

Fort's treatment of Chastity was horrifying. He verbally and physically abuses her and never asks for forgiveness. I know his story is told in "Something Wicked," but I'm not sure I can ever forgive him for slapping Chastity across the face. I don't think he deserves Elf!

Chastity's father is a terrible addition to this book. I know he had to be portrayed as cruel, but Cyn should have beaten him to a pulp for it. The Earl verbally and physically abuses Chastity and it really makes for an uncomfortable read.

I am going to try to read some of the other books in the series. Hopefully they improve!

This is my favorite book by Jo Beverley. The story is very good- Lord Cyn (insert your own joke here) is the youngest son of a powerful family tired of being coddled by his protective siblings, and Lady Chastity is living in exile and dressing like a man because her hair was cut off after she would not marry the man her father tried to trick her into having. When she robs his carriage and takes him prisoner, he sees through her male disguise and is intrigued enough to try to help her. The true reason for her father's wrath and the enmity between her and Cyn's families are revealed with help of Cyn's oldest brother, the handsomely devilish Marquess of Rothgar. Rothgar is my favorite character of all time! He needs his own story fast. The way he is able to manipulate other people and situations is almost like magic. I have read, re-read, and marked all of the pages where he appears in this book, and also Tempting Fortune and Something Wicked (we get a glimpse of his softer side) which are all about the Malloren family. Bring on Rothgar! Ms. Beverley, I am waiting impatiently!!!